by Prof Dr Heiko Schmaljohann, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences

Most of us are somehow familiar with the nightingale from stories, books and tales. The birds are about the size of your hand and weigh only 20 g, the same as a lollipop. Excitingly, nightingales, like many other songbirds that breed here in summer, spend the winter in sub-Saharan Africa. What is even more exciting is that the songbirds travel all alone without their parents, siblings or conspecifics, and only at night! We will playfully find out how the birds manage to arrive at their winter quarters, what special skills they have for this and also what problems they have to overcome on their journey.

by Prof. Dr Esther Ruigendijk, Institute of Dutch Studies

Everyone has a language, whether it is German, Dutch, Arabic, Ukrainian or sign language. But where does it actually come from and how do we learn language? Babies make noises, but they don't speak. By the age of four or five, most children can already speak a lot. Often even in more than one language. As adults, it is really difficult to learn another language. So how is it that children can do this so quickly and so well? This is a question that has long occupied scientists. Children seem to be very special linguistic geniuses and it is very exciting to investigate this.

by Prof Dr Andreas Engel, Institute of Physics

Our Earth is surrounded by space, in which there are an immeasurable number of stars, planets, asteroids and gas clouds. Most of them are very far away from us. However, some are also close to us, such as the moon. A normal commercial aeroplane could reach it in about two weeks. However, aeroplanes are not suitable for flying to the moon. But how do you get there? And when you arrive, can you just get out and walk around? No, that's not so easy either. So why go there at all? There are a number of good reasons for this. What are they? You'll find out in the lecture.